Child Care Innovation Advancement Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4896 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4896

To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to establish
   the child care innovation nutrition pilot program, and for other
                               purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 24, 2026

 Ms. Klobuchar (for herself and Mrs. Shaheen) introduced the following
      bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
                  Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to establish
   the child care innovation nutrition pilot program, and for other
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Child Care Innovation Advancement
Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) families across the United States are struggling to
        access affordable, quality child care due to a shortage of
        child care providers;
            (2) local communities have responded to the child care
        shortage with innovative solutions that increase child care
        supply by reducing barriers to entry for potential providers,
        including child care pods, multi-unit child care facilities,
        and employer-provided child care programs; and
            (3) while Federal nutrition programs aid in providing
        nutritious foods to young children in child care settings, many
        recent innovative child care solutions have found those
        programs difficult to access.

SEC. 3. CHILD CARE INNOVATION NUTRITION PILOT PROGRAM.

    The Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (7 U.S.C. 1751 et
seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 30. CHILD CARE INNOVATION NUTRITION PILOT PROGRAM.

    ``(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of the Child Care Innovation Advancement Act of 2026, the
Secretary shall carry out a pilot program, to be known as the `child
care innovation nutrition pilot program' (referred to in this section
as the `pilot program'), under which an organized child care program
operating in a site that is not a private home (including a commercial
space, a community center, a house of worship, or a space provided by
an employer) may receive reimbursement for the purchase of nutritious
food for meals provided to children under the care of the organized
child care program.
    ``(b) Eligibility.--To be eligible to receive reimbursement under
the pilot program, an organized child care program shall be--
            ``(1) operating under the auspices of a sponsoring
        organization; and
            ``(2) licensed or approved to operate by the State in which
        the organized child care program is located.
    ``(c) Duration.--An organized child care program may receive
reimbursement under the pilot program for not more than 3 years.
    ``(d) Reimbursement.--
            ``(1) In general.--An organized child care program
        participating in the pilot program shall be reimbursed under
        the pilot program at the same rate at which a family or group
        day care home is reimbursed under a similar Federal child care
        nutrition program.
            ``(2) Sponsoring organizations.--A sponsoring organization
        of an organized child care program participating in the pilot
        program shall be reimbursed under the pilot program in the same
        manner that a sponsoring organization of a family or group day
        care home is reimbursed under a similar Federal child care
        nutrition program.
    ``(e) Accountability.--
            ``(1) In general.--Activities carried out under the pilot
        program shall be subject to strict accountability
        requirements--
                    ``(A) to ensure program integrity and protect
                taxpayer investments in child health; and
                    ``(B) that include, at a minimum, the monitoring,
                review, and program integrity requirements of similar
                Federal child care nutrition programs.
            ``(2) Audit requirement.--
                    ``(A) Definition of unresolved audit finding.--In
                this paragraph, the term `unresolved audit finding',
                with respect to an audit of the Inspector General of
                the Department of Agriculture of the pilot program,
                means a finding in a final audit report that an audited
                organized child care program has been reimbursed for an
                unauthorized expenditure or otherwise unallowable cost
                that is not closed or resolved by the date that is 1
                year after the date on which the final audit report is
                issued.
                    ``(B) Audits.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Beginning with the first
                        fiscal year beginning after the date of
                        enactment of the Child Care Innovation
                        Advancement Act of 2026, and in each fiscal
                        year thereafter, the Inspector General of the
                        Department of Agriculture shall conduct audits
                        of organized child care programs under the
                        pilot program to prevent waste, fraud, and
                        abuse of funds by those organized child care
                        programs.
                            ``(ii) Number of recipients audited.--The
                        Inspector General of the Department of
                        Agriculture shall determine the appropriate
                        number of organized child care programs to be
                        audited each year under clause (i).
                    ``(C) Mandatory exclusion.--An organized child care
                program that is found to have an unresolved audit
                finding shall not be eligible to receive funds under
                the pilot program during the first 2 fiscal years
                beginning after the end of the applicable 1-year period
                described in subparagraph (A).
            ``(3) Annual certification.--During the first fiscal year
        described in paragraph (2)(B)(i), and annually thereafter, the
        Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture,
        Nutrition, and Forestry and the Committee on Appropriations of
        the Senate and the Committee on Agriculture and the Committee
        on Appropriations of the House of Representatives a
        certification--
                    ``(A) indicating whether--
                            ``(i) all audits conducted by the Inspector
                        General of the Department of Agriculture under
                        paragraph (2)(B) have been completed and
                        reviewed by the appropriate Assistant
                        Secretary; and
                            ``(ii) all organized child care programs
                        required to be excluded under paragraph (2)(C)
                        have been so excluded; and
                    ``(B) that includes a list of any organized child
                care programs excluded under paragraph (2)(C) from the
                preceding fiscal year.
    ``(f) Preventing Duplicative Reimbursements.--
            ``(1) In general.--Prior to awarding a reimbursement to an
        organized child care program under the pilot program, the
        Secretary shall compare that intended reimbursement with any
        other reimbursement awarded by the Secretary to the organized
        child care program under another program but for a similar
        purpose.
            ``(2) Report.--If the Secretary awards to an organized
        child care program reimbursements under the pilot program and
        another program administered by the Secretary for a similar
        purpose, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on
        Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the
        Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives a
        report that includes--
                    ``(A) a list of all such reimbursements awarded,
                including the total dollar amount of those
                reimbursements; and
                    ``(B) the justification for awarding multiple
                reimbursements for a similar purpose to the same
                organized child care program.
    ``(g) Evaluation and Report to Congress.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the
        termination date of the pilot program under subsection (h), the
        Secretary shall conduct, and submit to Congress the results of,
        an evaluation of the pilot program, which shall contain, at a
        minimum--
                    ``(A) the extent to which, as a result of the pilot
                program--
                            ``(i) additional low-income children were
                        provided nutritious meals; and
                            ``(ii) additional children received child
                        care;
                    ``(B) a description of procedures necessary to
                ensure program integrity;
                    ``(C) a discussion of the outreach methods that
                were most effective; and
                    ``(D) recommendations regarding permanent authority
                for family or group day cares to receive reimbursement
                for the purchase of nutritious foods for meals provided
                to children under their care.
    ``(h) Termination of Pilot Program.--The pilot program shall
terminate on the date that is 5 years after the date of establishment
of the pilot program.
    ``(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this section.''.
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